Shadowed Past
by Soul Eater
Summary: FINISHED!What happens when Lock gets strange dreams about his past? For as long as he could remember, he lived him Halloween town...but he soon finds out about his past...when he was alive.
1. Unexplained guilt

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these totally awesome characters... :(  
  
This is my first nightmare before Christmas fanfic so please be nice! I really hope you like it! Sorry that the first chapter is rather short, I was just so exited to post it! Woooh!  
  
  
  
It was a cool crisp day in Halloween Town. The sky was overcast, and a light wind blew. To Lock, this was a perfect day.  
  
He sat on an old grave in the middle of a somewhat gray field. Lately he was feeling an emptiness in his life, yet he couldn't quite place what it was.  
  
Ever since Oogie Boogie was destroyed by Jack, Lock found himself bored, and rather restless. To top it all off, he was having these strange visions that he could not quite explain.  
  
As far back as Lock could remember he was always as he was now. He never seemed to age. He could only remember about 15 years, everything before that was a blur. Shock and Barrel were the only family he had ever had. He often pondered the idea of him once being alive, but he dismissed the idea. It was very rare that any one in Halloween Town was once alive. But still he couldn't help but think this.  
  
"Lock? What's wrong, you haven't been yourself lately." Lock looked up to see Jack standing over him. He wondered why Jack even cared. After all, he wasn't exactly nice to Jack in the past.  
  
"Nothing really," Lock lied, "I just wanted to be alone, I haven't been feeling well lately..." Jack gave him a look, he obviously didn't believe Lock, but he didn't want to make him feel any worse than he already seemed to be.  
  
"You sure you're ok Lock? Even your friends think you have seemed a little depressed lately."  
  
"No really, I'm fine..." He stared off in to the distance, not even blinking the whole time Jack was there, almost like he was watching for something.  
  
"Lock, I have to go now, but if you need anything, don't feel afraid to ask me. I know we have had our differences in the past, but my doors are always open. I am the pumpkin king as you know." Jack gave him a reassuring pat on the back, and was off.  
  
Lock sighed to himself. He felt tired. The sleepiness came so suddenly, he decided a nap sounded like a good idea.  
  
Lock finally got to his home, he smiled seeing it. It was the only home he had ever known. It was almost impossibly shaped, with pipes coming out of completely random places, leading down to the now abandoned layer of Oogie Boogie.  
  
Lock stepped into the over sized birdcage as it took him up to the front door. He stepped inside the dark hallway that branched off of the birdcage elevator. Feeling the sleepiness tearing at his eyes more then ever, he decided to just lie down on the musty couch that was quite conveniently placed. He fell quickly into sleep...that's when the dreams came...  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Lock!" A young blue eyes girl called his name, she looked about 10. "What are you doing out here all alone silly?"  
  
Lock could not help to smile at his little sister. She was still at the age where the world seemed like one big game. He envied her for this, he always seemed to have a lot on his mined lately.  
  
"Nothing Sarah, I just like to look at the stars, that's all." Sarah giggled at her brother. 'He can be so silly sometimes.' She thought to herself.  
  
"Mind if I look with you Lock?" Her eyes sparkled at him. "Sure you can." Lock said, feeling better now that he would have someone to talk to.  
  
"Lock? Can I ask you something?" she said turning to her side, looking like this had been on her mind for a while. "What is it Sarah?" asked Lock, sitting up. "Will you ever leave me? You know like mommy and daddy did."  
  
Lock was a little surprised to hear her ask him that. She was so young when his parents were taken away. He wondered if she even remembered them.  
  
"Of coerce not Sarah, I will always be here for you." He smiled again at his sister. They were all each other had.  
  
"Oh look Lock! A shooting star!" yelled his sister, jumping to her feet in excitement.  
  
"Well," Lock said "Why don't you make a wish?" Sarah shut her eyes for a moment, and a thought of her wish.  
  
"So what did you wish for?" Prodded Lock. Sarah just giggled. "I can't tell you! Then it won't come true!"  
  
Lock laid back down in the soft grass, smiling to himself. He even believed himself that he would never be separated from his sister.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
  
  
Lock suddenly woke up, and found himself back in his dank gray home, no longer in the field. The dream made him feel odd. He began to wonder if it was even a dream. It was all too real. The girl in his dream made him feel even stranger, and a sudden wave of unexplained guilt washed over him. Lock however, being as stubborn as he was, just told himself that it was just a meaningless dream, and nothing more. 


	2. Lock dont go!

Hello again! Thank you for all of your great reviews!! I'll try to make Lock his old mischievous self for this chapter, I don't want to let some of my readers down ;-) My brother told me that Lock is the worst character of the whole movie... ¬.¬ but I think he is wrong...don't you?  
  
  
  
Although Lock's dream seemed short, it was already dusk by the time he woke up. He realized he was no longer alone in the house. The chatter of Shock and Barrel could be heard. They were fighting over something, but they seemed to fight more then they talked...that's why Lock liked them so much. He decided to go see what was going on with them.  
  
Lock entered the kitchen just in time to see Shock tackle Barrel and start to strangle him. He decided to let them fight a little bit longer, he liked where it was going. Upon seeing that Lock had come into the room, Barrel kicked Shock off of him and smiled. "Lock! You're awake! We have something planned for you tonight!" But lock just gave him a puzzled look. "Yeah Lock," Shock said standing up and brushing off her dress, "This is the 15th year anniversary of being together! I thought it would be fun to let some giant scorpions loose in the Mayor's house, but this idiot here," She said pointing to Barrel, "wants to use alligators." Barrel looked at shock angrily, "Who are you calling an idiot!" he yelled hitting her with his mask. Lock was really enjoying this.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
In the end, they decided to go with the scorpions, they just didn't have a cage large enough for the alligator. Giant scorpions were rather large, but they were still smaller than an alligator.  
  
Lock was feeling better as the night's events went on. Everything that was bothering him earlier was no longer even in his mind.  
  
The trio giggled mischievously to them selves as they trekked toward the center of Halloween Town where the Mayor's house lay. A cool wind was blowing down from the hills sending a chill down Lock's spine. Barrel was helping him carry the large crate containing the scorpions while Shock was up ahead looking for any signs of a lurking civilian who may try to spoil their fun.  
  
"What do you suppose the mayor will do when he finds a bunch of these in his bed? I bet he'll scream real loud!" Said Barrel patting the box after setting it down.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Lock, "The only thing is, now that Oogie Boogie is gone, he won't be as afraid to confront us." Lock thought back to when the Mayor would wince at the very name. Now he just strutted around like he is the big bad boss of the whole town. This really bothered Lock, the Mayor could not even to begin to compare to Oogie Boogie. Lock heard that the only person he was ever able to scare was a little girl, and it didn't surprise him, Lock wouldn't be scared of that short plump thing of a "man" either if he was a human...  
  
"Lock!" shrieked the shrill voice of Shock, wrenching him from his ill thoughts of the Mayor. "Don't just stand there! Help with the box!" She gave the box a good kick, causing the occupants inside to let out a hiss. "Honestly, I didn't think you could get anymore incompetent." Barrel and Lock let the insult slide; they wanted to focus their efforts on their prank.  
  
After a moment of silence, they picked up the box and moved ever so quietly toward the window of the Mayor's bedroom. The scuffling of their small feet was covered up but the howl of the wind. This was another asset to Halloween town, there were so many other sounds, from the ever-prominent screams from the grave yard, to the soft music played by the dead quartet, this just made it all the more easy to sneak around.  
  
There wasn't a single light on in the Mayor's house except for the dim glow of a candle inside a small pumpkin with a face slightly resembling that of Jack's.  
  
"If I didn't know any better I would think that the Mayor was Jack's mother! He sure acts like it, I mean with all the time he spends with him, plus the way he talks about him all the time, 'Oh did you see the way Jack did this, and how he did that!'" Barrel giggled at his own joke, joined in by the laughter of Shock. Lock however did not join in. his attention had been averted from his friends upon seeing a pair or large blue eyes looking at him from the darkness that seemed to almost glow. Upon a closer look, they seemed to hold a look that resembled a deep sorrow. As soon as he went to alert his friends however, the mysterious eyes were gone as quickly as they came. Lock suddenly thought the worst. He thought he was going crazy, the girl in his dreams was now following him in his own town. 'No,' he thought to himself, 'it could have been anything after all this is Halloween Town.' He decided now was not a good time to think about it, they were just about to put the scorpions in through the window.  
  
As quietly as they could, the trinity opened the window they were huddled under. Using quite a bit of effort, they lifted the box level to the opening.  
  
"Ready...Set...PUSH!" Yelled Shock as the box was sent plunging to the floor of the bedroom, causing a tremendous crash that quickly woke the Mayor from his slumber. His face spun around to reveal the gray grimacing side.  
  
"Wa- what was that? Who's there?" Stammered the Mayor. His eyes suddenly grew wide upon seeing the creatures advancing toward him. He screamed as one that had climbed over his head snatched off his nightcap. The screams continued as he saw one creep up over his covers, and another eating his fuzzy slippers. A forth scorpion was heading out of his room to the rest of his house. He jumped out of his bed and ran to his closet, being the only place the scorpions had not yet gone. The questions of the origin of the abominations were soon answered for him as he heard the maniacal high-pitched laughter ring out from somewhere in the night.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lock, Shock, and Barrel finally returned to their home rather late at night. Everything was so quiet around their home, it was almost as if everything was afraid to be near the old home of Oogie Boogie, fearing he could still be there, and could come out to get them while they slept. This was all just nonsense however, and only the more sensible residents of the town knew this.  
  
"Wasn't that great?!" Bellowed Barrel, "Did you see the look on his face?" Chimed in Shock. "He's probably still in the closet crying!" Contributed Lock. They all tossed their heads back and laughed.  
  
"Well I suppose we better get to bed now, we all need our sleep so we look well rested enough. I don't want to take the fall for this just yet." Shock always acted as if she was in charge, and Lock and Barrel just went along with it, although there had been some incidents where a fight had broken out due to her bossiness.  
  
Once in his bed, Lock became hesitant to sleep, fearing the dreams would come again, but feeling as tired as he was, he figured he would sleep so heavy no dreams would come.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
A fire glowed brightly casting large shadows from everything the light touched. Sarah sat curled up next to her brother absorbing what little heat the fire would give, as a snow storm was raging outside. Their home had always been cold in the winter, but never was it as cold as it was that night. Lock was all Sarah had, they lived together in a one room shack with little more than a fire place and two cots with thin ragged blankets.  
  
"Are you warm enough Sarah?" Asked Lock. His sister snuggled closer to him, he could feel the cold coming off of her. "I'm fine, really, but I guess I could stand to be just a little warmer." He could tell she was not being entirely truthful, he fingers felt like ice in his hands. "Sarah, you need more warmth, let me give you my blanket, your already sick as it is. I need you to get better."  
  
"But what about you Lock? Won't you be cold too?" Sarah looked at him with concern; her blue eyes shimmered in the light of the fire.  
  
"No I'll be fine. As long as I can keep the fire going I think I will be ok." He gave his sister a reassuring smile. "Now it's getting late, its time for you to go to bed."  
  
"But I'm not sleepy yet!" She said while also trying very hard to stifle a yawn.  
  
"Oh sure you're not! Come on now, you need your strength, so get some rest." Sarah gave a sigh, but did what she was told and went to bed. Lock just hoped he had enough wood to keep the fire burning.  
  
He got up to tuck his little sister in bringing his own blanket from his bed to cover her. She was so young, so even the slightest cold could make her even sicker without proper warmth.  
  
As the night went on, Sarah slept soundly as Lock tried his best to keep warm from the storm raging outside. The wood was in short supply and sleepiness was tearing at his eyes. He wished he could share the warmth that his little sister felt, but the cot was far too small for two people, and the ground was simply far too cold for them to lie on. Lock was out of ideas, and it was only 11:00 upon looking at the clock on the wall.  
  
He felt so tired, and he needed heat, so he decided to curl up on his cot for just a little while, to rest his eyes. But to Lock's misfortune, he fell into a deep sleep.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sarah awoke feeling rather chilly and a lot better from her rest, but still better off then she would have been with just one blanket. She sat up in her bet and rubbed her eyes, but jumped right out of bed upon seeing her brother. His lips were a frosty blue, and there appeared to be black rings around his eyes, causing large bags under both. His face had turned almost as white as the snow on the ground. His breathing was very slow, the breaths were almost fighting to come out of his body. Despite how bad things looked, Sarah had always been optimistic; thinking that everything would be ok, she hurried over to her cot to grab the blankets and threw them over her brother, then shaking him, hoping he would wake. Slowly he opened his eyes.  
  
"Sarah...why is it so cold...what time is it?" he suddenly tried to sit up, but realized he had no strength to do so. "I must have fallen asleep, so the fire went out!" He at cursed at his own mistake. A sudden wave weakness washed over him, in just speaking, he had tired himself.  
  
Suddenly darkness started to fill of his senses. Everything was getting dark, and he felt dizzy, like he was spiraling down an endless pit. He called out to his sister, who quickly took his hand.  
  
"Lock? What's wrong?" Se looked at him, her eyes shining, the darkness still had not covered them up, like they were fighting the darkness away. But soon they could not even keep the darkens away. Lock knew what was happening to him all to well. "I'm sorry..." He said to her, "But I don't think I can keep my promise...I love you Sarah..." That was the last thing lock ever got to say to his sister, the darkness had swallowed him completely.  
  
Sarah's eyes became blurry with tears as she burst out crying. "Lock! Don't go! Please don't go!" Her jaw quivered, and her knees became weak, she fell over he brother, the sadness consumed her, it was a feeling of sorrow she had never felt before. 


	3. One Mad Mayor, a Serious Skeleton, and a...

First of all I would like to say sorry for the typos in the last chapter...I really need to proof read better. Anyway, I'm sorry that this chapter took so long to get up...well perhaps it was not that long... this chapter follows Sarah a little bit, so sorry if it gets a bit confusing. Anyway...on with the story!!!!! Oh yeah, I know very little about collage...just pretend along with me that I know what I'm talking about...this very beginning isn't a dream either, I thought it might be a bit confusing...oh one more thing...I think Locks tail is real, I swear I can see it move in the movie...sorry if I'm wrong!  
  
  
  
It had been many years since the passing of her brother, but Sarah still managed to stay strong as time passed. She was no longer a little girl either, she had grew not only in body but in mind. Now at the age of 25 she had a lot on her mind. She was in collage, studying to be science major, and this was the time of year the exams rolled around. This was around the time her brother had died those 15 years earlier.  
  
It was around this time of year she wished he had never left her. She needed more than anything some one she could have to support her, or just some one she could look up to. It was so hard to grow up with no one there for you. After Lock left her, she decided there was no point in hiding from the social workers that were after her and her brother for so many years. Sarah had just given in and allowed herself to be taken into foster care.  
  
Sarah sighed and looked up from her physics book she was studying from and looked over to a photo of Lock. It was that last thing she had to remember him by. She no longer felt that she would once again see her brother again, like she had so many years ago. She had been so naive then, she knew better then to believe in stupid things like that. Looking at the photo of her dead brother created a new sadness deep within her heart, that seemed to grow slowly the more she thought about him. She suddenly felt angry at him, 'why did he have to go!' she thought to herself. And forced the picture of Lock face down and continued with her work.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lock woke from his dream in a cold sweat. Every thing then came flooding back, memories of his past, everything, his parents, his old friends...his sister. Every thing seemed so unreal, Lock almost couldn't believe it. The old forgotten human part of him was suddenly screaming for him to go to her, saying that she needed him. But the new Lock was telling him it's in the past, why should he care about a stupid human girl anyway? Even if he was to go to the mortal realm to see his sister, he was afraid of what she would think of him. He had changed so much, never before had he disliked the way he looked. He had fit in so well in Halloween Town with his demonic appearance, but if he was to go to the mortal world, he felt he would stick out a bit much.  
  
He just needed some time to think. He needed to talk to some one, but he knew his friends would never understand what was wrong. He decided to go to the only people who could help him.  
  
Lock arrived at the large door of none other than Jack Skellington's house. He reached out to pull the door bell, when the door opened. Standing there was the mayor and Jack, they mayor looked *very* tired. Lock could not help but laugh. Jack looked down at him with a very stern look.  
  
"You!" Yelled the mayor, pointing at Lock turning his face to the gray half as he advanced toward him, but was stopped by Jack. "Now now mayor, this is not the way we should approach this. Let's clam down. Lock, come inside with me. Mayor, I need to talk to Lock alone now, I believe that the vampires should have gotten the remaining scorpions out of your home now."  
  
Lock found himself sitting in a large chair, much too large for his small size. He had a hard time climbing up to sit in it. He shifted wearily, this was not what he needed right then.  
  
"Lock, what is it that this town has to do to keep you out of trouble? How many times must I give you and you're friends this lecture? Where are Shock and Barrel?"  
  
"I think they are still asleep, but I didn't come here to get yelled at Jack, I need to talk to you about something." Lock had an almost serious adult tone to his voice, Jack couldn't help but stare at him. Lock just sat in the chair with his arms folded across his chest, Jack could tell there was something really bothering him.  
  
"What is it Lock? Is everything ok?" Lock had expected the question, but it really hit him when it was asked, how could Jack possibly understand? He just gave the simplest answer he could.  
  
"Yeah, there is." He decided to just tell him everything, it was the only way he could explain it.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
After lock was done with the whole story, Jack just sat there in awe of it all. He was totally speechless, this was not what he expected. The story had so much complexity to it, he almost didn't believe him.  
  
"Lock, is everything you just told me true? It's vital you tell me the truth. This is not something to joke about." Jack looked into Lock's eyes, the looked empty, lifeless even, almost like he had no emotion left.  
  
Locks answer was short, and cut to the point, "Why would I make something up like this? It's not even original, I could do better." Lock sighed, the one person he though could help was turning out to not help much at all. Just then sally came into the room, she had always been such a free spirit, she seemed to always be humming to her self, like she didn't have a care in the world. She was holding a vase full of withered dead flowers, the kind that grew along of the dirt roads, where it was always dusty...that's where they flourished and became as beautiful as they were. She looked up seeing Lock, she had a brief look of puzzlement on her face, but she quickly fixed it back to cheery and welcoming upon seeing the apparent disposition he was in.  
  
"Lock? Is there something wrong?" Her voice was so soothing, it almost sent a warmth through his body when she spoke. She had always seen things better than anyone else in the town, perhaps she could help him. Jack seemed to be a step ahead of him.  
  
"Sally we have a problem, we need to talk in the other room, Lock you sit tight, we will be right back." Lock could hear the hushed whispers of the two talking. He sat in the chair having the familiar restlessness he knew all too well lately. He looked around the Skellington Manner, since sally moved in, there had been a new sort of a feminine elegance added to the once cobwebbed dusty rooms. It was so unfitting for the home of the pumpkin king, but love can do strange things to the mind.  
  
Jack cam back into the room with Sally, who now had a look of sadness in her eyes. It was unfitting for someone so carefree, his mind then flashed back to Sarah, she had had the same sorrow in her eyes when--  
  
"Lock? Are you listening?" Jack said waving his hand in front of his eyes. "Did you even hear what I said?"  
  
"Oh...sorry I didn't. What did you say?" Lock replied in a monotone voice so unlike him, Jack was really starting to worry.  
  
"I suggested the idea of going to the mortal world to find your sister; I would need to escort you however." Lock pondered Jacks offer for a minuet, in his heart, there was almost a certain voice calling out to him, saying he should go to his sister, she needed him. This was something he needed to do alone, so he decided to simply lie to Jack, even if Lock wasn't acting like himself that would not stop him from breaking the rules.  
  
"I don't think I'm ready to face her, maybe some other time, just not now. But thank you anyway, I should go now." Lock jumped out of his chair, and walked out, not even looking back. The thank you he had given had no though behind it, the truth was, Jack didn't really help him at all.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Lock walked back to his house, looking up at the dreary windows, he could see Shock and Barrel already up. To his surprise they were not killing each other for once, although that could be something that could cheer him up, a good fight.  
  
Upon entering his home, Shock rushed over to him. "What's wrong with you?! You went to Jack's house?!?! After what we did! Arg!" She lunged at him, but Lock just easily moved to the side.  
  
"Will you shut up for a second? I need to tell you guys something. I have to go for a while. I don't feel like explaining why, because you probably wouldn't understand. You would probably even try to stop me from doing it." Lock's friends just looked at him. They didn't know if he was kidding or not. Not wanting to wait for them to figure it out, Lock left. He was off toward the mortal realm, not looking back that whole way, he would soon see his sister.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Sarah sighed, she looked at the clock to see it was already 1 AM. She could barely keep her eyes open. She hated exams, she had lost so much sleep due to them. Cursing to her self she slammed the book shut she was reading from. She was pushing herself way too hard, and she knew it. But for some reason that didn't stop her from doing so. The only reason she pushed herself so hard was because she was at the school on a full scholarship, and if her grades were bad they could kick her out to make room for a paying student.  
  
Looking for something to keep her going, her eyes fell on Lock's picture. Remembering his determination the night he died to keep her alive and well, she figured if he could do that, then maybe at least she could study for a stupid exam.  
  
  
  
A.N/ Sorry for the shortish chapter, ill post again as soon as I can! Oh and I'm soooo sleepy and I need to upload this tonight, sorry if there are still typos, feel free to yell at me ^^;; 


	4. Mess With the Mortal

Woooh the forth chapter! I got a Lock bobble head for Christmas so I have him next to my computer. ^^ *looks at Lock* oh I just love him so much! *hits his head, and it starts to bobble* WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE look at him go! I really hate taking Lock out of character, but it must be done a little for the plot of this story, but I will try to keep him the little devil he is for the majority of the story. I tried to sneak a little of that in this story, I hope its enough, feel free to tell me if you still don't think he is in character enough and I will try my best to redeem my self ^^;; I hope I am doing good with this story because I thought up a cool plot and everything, and when I hear I let people down I feel bad...so I'm trying sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo hard to make every one happy with this story.  
  
  
  
The streets of the real world dead quiet for night time, even if these were the suburbs of a large city. Back in Halloween Town, the night was very much dead, but not quiet. The silence was unsettling, it would make it harder for him to sneak around. Lucky for him, all his years of being a sneaky little town menace would pay off.  
  
Apart from being quiet, the real world was so generic; every house looked almost like the other. He wondered how he was to find his sister, but there was this small feeling inside of him that seemed to almost be guiding him along. Lock had no idea what greater force was doing this to him. He wasn't sure to curse or be thankful of its presence. Either way, when he tried to think of his sisters where a bouts, a name would pop into his mind, the Collage of William and Marry. He figured that's where he needed to go.  
  
Dawn was approaching and Lock realized he had no place to be, jumping into this was such a bad idea. He wished he was back home with Shock and Barrel without a care in the world. He had only been in the real world for about 5 hours, but that was still the longest he had ever been away from his friends. A sound suddenly wrenched him from his thought of his friends. He looked for the source of the low droning sound and saw that it was in fact a car.  
  
"Weird..." He said aloud to no one. It wasn't that Lock had never seen a car before, there were a few in Halloween Town, but they ran so smoothly and the engine gave of a low rumbling and not a clanking sound. This one was rather different in other ways too. On the roof there seemed to be lights and the car was black and white with writing on the sides. As the car got closer, it caught Lock in the head lights. The occupant inside the car slowed the vehicle. He was in a uniform, complete with a hat and badge. Lock new better then running although he wanted to out of the fear he felt, but he knew his short legs would not take him very far. It then finally hit Lock who this man was. He was some kind of human law officer.  
  
"Hey you, kid!" Said the cop, rolling down his window. "What are you doing roaming the streets at 3 AM? And *why* are you dressed like that?" He asked lock with a rather inquisitive look on his face.  
  
Lock was not sure how to reply to the officer, he couldn't exactly tell him the truth for obvious reasons.  
  
"I...uh....Well I'm looking for my sister." He said, finding the cop staring at his teeth. The man didn't know if his eyes were going on him, but he could swear this boy had fangs.  
  
"Oh w-well, is she lost?" He stammered still looking at Lock, staring into his unnaturally yellow eyes.  
  
"No," Replayed Lock bluntly, "I just can't find her. Now if you would just leave me alone I could go back to looking for her."  
  
"Now see here boy, I guess you didn't know there is a curfew in these parts. Children are not supposed to be out at this hour without an adult. Do your parents know you're out here all alone?"  
  
"I have no parents, now would you please let me go?" Lock's voice was sounding irritated and impatient.  
  
"No boy, I need to get you home, if you have no parents who do you live with?" sad the cop, who was now out of his car and was advancing toward Lock.  
  
"Not that it's any of your busyness, but I live with my friends." He said with a sigh, he knew he was wasting valuable night time needed to travel.  
  
"Hey boy, you need to take a better tone when talking with an officer. Do you have any adult figure where you live?" In the pale light of the moon Lock could almost see the cop's face turning slightly red.  
  
"Nope." Said Lock in a cool tone, realizing if he talks the right way, he could really get this pathetic human really mad, all fear he had felt before was completely gone. "Where I live I don't need to live with an adult. I used to have one who lived in the chamber below, but he was killed." He said the last part with a grin, but was in no way happy about Oogie Boogie's death, he just wanted to mess with the mortal. It was an old favorite game he shared with Shock and Barrel.  
  
Upon hearing this, the cop's eyes widened. "Where do you live?" the question had been a demanding one, one that said 'you better tell me or I *will* hurt you' this gave Lock even more reason not to cooperate...  
  
"I can't tell you...it's a secret" Lock said both sarcastically and truthfully, flashing a wild fanged grin. But it soon proved to be a mistake.  
  
"Ok! I think I should take you back to the station. Put your hands up where I can see them." His tone was furious. But Lock was still not threatened.  
  
"No," Lock replied swishing his tail coolly.  
  
"I said put your hands up where I can see them!" Said the cop who was now wielding a gun. Lock knew it would do no damage because he was dead, but it would make a rather annoying wound that would take three times as a mortals wound to heal. He was thinking about giving in to the cop when suddenly a baseball flew out of nowhere and hit the cop in the head. "What the--?" He said looking around confused holding one hand to his head where the ball hit. Then another thing zoomed past lock hitting the man in the other side of his head. From the looks of it, it appeared to be a shrunken head. "Who's doing that!?" yelled the man furiously. Insane giggles came up from some where in the darkness. Lock spun around to see none other then Shock and Barrel pop out from the bushes. They had with them a large trick or treat bag, the same they used to kidnap Sandy Claws. Lunging at the man, they forced him in the bag. He fell to the ground, wriggling around, and letting out muffled yelled of anger.  
  
"What are you guys doing here?" Lock demanded. "How did you find me?"  
  
"We followed you, you just left us without warning. Lock we are your friends you know, you really freaked us out, you seem too...normal." explained Barrel.  
  
"Yeah," piped in Shock, "you weren't acting like yourself at all, you looked like you were actually thinking for once in your life." She gave Lock a playful punch. Lock smiled in return, he had really taking his friends for granted in the past few days. He really missed being his old carefree self. But perhaps the time he was going to spend in the really could prove to be fun now that he was with his friends.  
  
"I'm sorry I ran off like that." Lock in the past was rarely sincere with his friends, it was just not their style. He figured he got the message across so he switched back to playful Lock. "Now, what do we do with this guy?" He said giving the bag the cop was in a good kick. "He is really big, should we just leave him here?" Shock and Barrel smiled at him, and Shock took her fingers up to her lips and whistled. Out of the bushes came none other then the walking bath tub. Locks eyes lit up upon seeing the tub, his feet hurt from walking. The tub could take him where he needed to go. The three decided to take cop and him and stick him in the back of his car. Lock decided it was time to tell his friends everything.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
His friends stared at him blankly, not knowing if their companion had gone completely insane or not. The sun was now slowly coming up over the horizon, and the early commuters were already on the road. The three had to head to a small patch of woods for the time being.  
  
"So, is that what has been making you act so crazy lately?" Inquired Barrel.  
  
"Yeah, that's it," He explained, "I need to find Sarah so I can put these feelings to rest, I figured the guilt would go away once I find her and tell her everything is going to be ok." He lied. He just didn't want his friends to see him so...caring.  
  
"Jack sure is mad you left without him, he could pop up at anytime looking for us you know." Shock warned him, but the warning was not a welcomed one for Lock.  
  
"So...where are you planning on staying while you're looking for your sister?" Barrel asked, his eyes fixed on the other side of the road, as the cop was still wriggling in the back seat of his car.  
  
"I'm not sure..."  
  
"Uhg, leave it to Lock to jump into to things without even thinking." Shock exclaimed, rolling her eyes.  
  
"Oh shut up!" Was the only comeback Lock could think of. He was too tired to really retaliate.  
  
The sun was now up shining brightly. It was a little too bright for Lock, Shock, and Barrels liking, so they continued to stay in the shade of the trees. They passed the time by making small talk about almost anything. The reminisced about time long since past, joked about how cool it would have been if Oogie Boogie really got to eat Sandy Claws (because he was too cheery all the time...and it was too weird for them) They talked about how much they missed Boogie's snake and spider stew. They laughed as Barrel catch some bugs to snack on, but fell out of the tub reaching for a beetle flying past his head. Lock had not felt so relaxed for such a long time. He enjoyed just sitting and talking with his friends.  
  
As the day dragged by, they did however start to get rather bored. It wasn't in their nature to be inactive. They were fidgety and kept kicking and rolling on to each other. In result of this I few fights broke out, with the pulling of hair, and the smacking with masks, they were in three words, back to normal.  
  
"I'm so booooooooored!" whined Shock, "I can't stand just sitting here! I need to do something! I don't care how bright it is! I need to get out of this tub!" Shock leapt out of the tub, stretching.  
  
"What do you plan on doing Shock, its daylight, we're dead, we just might stand out a little... normally I wouldn't care, but we are a little outnumbered." Barrel said, in a sarcastic voice, hopping out of the tub himself.  
  
"Ooooh I don't care! Can't we just explore a little, we never get to come here anymore, and I want to make the best of it. Now come on, let's look around." Shock commanded.  
  
"I guess you're right, we can't just sit here all day talking, but what about the tub?" Said Lock who climbed out of the tub himself.  
  
"Oh, it will be fine, now come on!" The little witch grabbed Lock and Barrels hands dragging them out of the shelter of the woods. It took a good twenty minutes for their eyes to adjust to the light.  
  
"We sure have gotten a lot of funny looks, you would think they could be a little more polite, don't you think Shock?" Said Lock in a voice loud enough for the passing people to hear.  
  
"Yes Lock, I think it's very rude of them, what do you think Barrel?" Said shock, trying to hold back her giggles.  
  
"Yes, but I say we really give them something to stare at!" Barrel took out a couple of stink bugs from his pocket, the kind you can only find in Halloween Town that are 3 times more potent then the once found in the real world. From his other pocket he pulled out a small shrunken head that would scream then you pulled its hair. Barrel tossed to stink bugs to the ground and squashed it under a bare webbed foot. The smell was enough to gag a maggot, but the three of them breathed deep, loving the smell. The people around them coughed and choked trying to run to escape the smell. The trio fell to the ground with laughter.  
  
"Lock, I can't believe you used to be one of them!" Commented Shock, looking around at the people covering their noses as they passed and shook their head.  
  
"Yeah," agreed Lock him self, "Neither can I..."  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N Sorry I left off at a weird place, I really couldn't put much more in this chapter for it to really flow with the rest of the story...Thanx for all you r reviews! I'll update soon. 


	5. Perhaps I could be of some assistance

Hmm...I want to say sorry for my story being all messed, FF.net decided to be all evil to me... . blarg, oh well, wooh my 5th chapter...yay! I'm fighting with myself to weather to make Lock and Shock...you know, like flirt a little, but I don't know if I want to put that fact into play in my story, what do you think? Yeah I'm changing perspectives again, plead don't get mad at me if it's a bit confusing ^^; sorry if this chapter...well to put it bluntly...sucks, I needed an in between chapter, and I didn't know what to do...  
  
  
  
Night had finally fallen, and Lock, Shock, and Barrel were quickly moving under the cover of darkness, yet not quite knowing where they were going. Lock was grateful for tub, it was a great asset. His legs were simply not made for walking long distances.  
  
"So what do you think Jack will do once we get back? I bet he's reeeealy mad!" Shock said laughing to herself.  
  
"Well, we won't be back for a while, I can tell you that. I found a map today in a store, and according to this...we are about 3 states away from where we need to go." Barrel said, holding an upside down map up. "So, according to this map...we are supposed to be going down! Hey we're going the wrong way!" He shouted.  
  
"Its upside down you idiot!" Scolded Lock taking the map from him, holding it the correct way. "We are going the right way!" He added rolling his pale yellow eyes.  
  
As lively as the three seemed, they were all exhausted. A full day of walking with no sleep would make any one tired. After talking for a while, they took turns sleeping having one of them stay awake to make sure the tub stayed on course. Shock was the one awake now. She looked at her companions, both sound asleep. Barrel was sleeping on his stomach, his foot was twitching slightly, a sure sign of dreaming. She wondered what he was dreaming about, she figured it was about something dumb, like food. She worried about him sometimes... Her eyes then moved on to Lock, he was sleeping on his side, his hands under his head. Although she rarely showed it, she really cared for Lock and Barrel, maybe even more then they thought. When Lock had run off, she felt scared. She didn't like the thought of losing him. She may seem really mean most of the time on the out side, but she felt she didn't know what she would do if she was to ever lose her friends. She wondered how Lock's sister felt from the loss of her brother. She was only 10, and he was all she had in the world. She was glad no one was awake, she didn't want them to see her not acting like herself. She decided she should have nothing to worry about now. Smiling to herself, she kicked Barrel, it was his turn to keep lookout.  
  
  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
Some time later, the three found themselves out of the suburbs and in the country side. The sun was slowly rising, and the sky was a milky pink. All around them were fields full of crops or cows...some times both. This place was so mundane, they almost couldn't stand it.  
  
"This place sure is empty!" Commented Barrel, taking in the view. Yet there was not much to look at, some fields, some cows, and a barn was about it. The three could already see that people were awake, it surprised them. In the suburbs people wouldn't be getting up for another hour. Of the people they saw, one was an old man another was a younger man, but still looked kind of old, and the last, a young girl, looking of the age of 15.  
  
"Why do you think they are up so early? I thought humans never got up so soon." Shock said, turning to lock as if she was looking for an answer. But he just shrugged in return.  
  
"I may have been one of them, but that doesn't mean I remember everything about my life." He said crawling out of the tub, his legs were stiff and he needed to move them. "Come on, I'm hungry, I bet we can find some food in those big plants over there." Lock said pointing to the corn. He had never been good at cooking, but he figured he could whip something good up. However good to Lock was known as vile to his friends, that's why Shock did most of the cooking back home.  
  
The quest for food did not go well however. The three got mot much more then a lot of tripping and falling accomplished running trough the thick maze of corn. Tired and still hungry they sat down for a rest, totally oblivious to the face they were in a field of food.  
  
"Ooooh! This is hopeless!" Wailed Shock, "Where's all the food! I'm starving."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back in Halloween Town, Jack was in an uproar. He paced his room in Skellington manner, trying to find a way out of this situation Lock, Shock and Barrel had put him in.  
  
"Sally, what am I to do? I can't leave my guard down for a second with those three!" Jack almost growled with anger. "I'm supposed to be the pumpkin king! How did I let this happen?" He buried his face in his hands.  
  
"You're right Jack, you *are* the pumpkin king! I'm sure you'll find a way to solve this." Sally comforted, talking his hands in hers. Jack smiled at her.  
  
"You're right, it's just that this time of year is so stressful, Halloween is only a month away. Now I have to go and find those little conniving--" Jack's words were suddenly interrupted by the Mayor barging through his door.  
  
"Jack! Urgent news! Lock, Shock and Barrel are nowhere to be found!" His Gray face wailed in a tone of utmost horror. "Who knows where they are of what they're up to!" his eyes suddenly widened at the sight of Sally. "Oh Jack! I'm so sorry I barged in like that! Were you two in the middle of something?" Sally had to turn her head to hide the giggles escaping her as jack turned slightly red.  
  
"No Mayor, I was just discussing the matter of Lock, Sock and Barrel's disappearance with Sally. We weren't in the middle of anything like...that..." Jack said, blushing even more.  
  
"Oh... I-I didn't realize you already knew..." The Mayor stammered. "Well, do you know where they are?"  
  
"Yes Mayor, I do. But I'm afraid I will not have enough time to go out and look for them." Jack sighed. "Halloween is so close I don't think any one could spare the time to go look for them. Another thing, I don't know where to begin looking for them."  
  
Suddenly an all too familiar voice chimed in the conversation. It was one none of them were expecting. "Perhaps I could be of some assistance..."  
  
  
  
A/N: yes I know...SHORT chapter, I'm sorry. But I got some really good ideas this weekend for further chapters! So it will all make up for the short chapter! YAY! 


	6. REDNECKS! EEEEEEK!

Hey hey! Thanks to all who reviewed. ^^; I'm sorry for the shortness of the last chapter and the spelling errors. Well you see the thing about that is, it's all a game! *shifts eyes* yeah that's it...a game. You have to find all the spelling errors to win a fantabulous prize...heh I'm a loser ^____^ any way...I hope you like this chapter! Review! Even if you already have for this story, I just want to feel popular :D it might sound like I'm slashing the mayor a lot in my fic, but I don't mean to, I love the mayor just as much as any one else in this fantabulous movie!! (heh why do I keep saying fantabulous? :-P) I suppose this could be a bit of an A/U fic... perhaps...perhaps...what do you think o.O heh, I also gave the chapters names ^__^ yay!  
  
  
  
Jack cocked his head to one side in a confused manner. "Sandy Claws? Why are you here?" he said his eyes widening, or they would have if he had any.  
  
  
  
Santa just smiled, "I think I have a lot of explaining to do...Please sit, this may take a while." He said, trying to sit in one of jacks chairs, but found his bottom was a bit to large. Jack was a wee bit slimmer then Santa was, and Jack's chairs were built specially for him, he just looked out of place in regular sized ones. Blushing, Santa moved to a sofa, where his bottom had a little more room.  
  
"Well, now that we are all comfy, why don't you tell us why you are here?" The Mayor suggested. He only took charge when he felt it was easy, and didn't have much work involved. (A/N It's ok! We still love you Mayor!!!! :D)  
  
"Yes, that is why I came. As you must already know Jack, it is *my* job to bring happiness and joy to all the little children in the world right?" Santa had emphasized the word 'My' as he gave a look to Jack, who in return smiled a bit meekly. They all nodded in response to his question. "Yes well, I'm afraid I am truly the cause of your problems. Well...let me see, this is rather difficult to explain... let me put it this way. Have you heard of wishing upon a star?"  
  
"Sandy, who do you take me for? I'm the master of night; I have heard a few things in my day." Jack practically bragged, Santa could see that he still had his old pride.  
  
"Yes well, what I'm trying to get at is... it's my job to make the wishes come true. Once in a while, I will get a particular kind of wish, one that is made by a child of pure heart and innocent mind. Sarah was one of those cases, and do you know what her wish was?" Santa asked, but took all of their blank wordless stares as a no. "Well, she wished that her and Lock could always be together. So that night when he died, he simply didn't go to the other side like most people do, he came here. Little did I know that Shock and Barrel would change him so much. But because of him being here, he would be able to go to her when ever she needed him, and perhaps that time is now."  
  
"But there is just one thing I don't understand Mr. Claws. When I first got to Christmas Town, that was the first time I had ever hear or seen the place, how did you know about Halloween town before my...er little mishap?" Jack asked, looking rather sorry and curious at the same time.  
  
"Jack, who do you take me for?" Santa said mimicking Jack who was totally oblivious to the fact he was. "It is my job to make sure every one...and I mean every one is being good."  
  
"Then why don't we ever get any presents Sandy? I feel this town is made up of nothing of good!" The Mayor said, putting his chest out in pride. "I just thought I would let you know...I have always wanted my own--"  
  
"Now now Mayor," Santa interrupted "Before you get your hopes up I believe I should tell you this: it is my job only to serve the needs of children, and they must be ones who reside in, well as you call it, 'The Real World'."  
  
"Oh...I see..." Mayor said, looking very disappointed, switching to his sad face. This sight of this made Santa jump, he had never seen the mayor do this up close.  
  
"Anyway, to rap up my visit, I must say this: Jack, I do not want you to bring him back, I give you reassurance that those three are staying out of trouble for the most part." Santa gave a smile, placing his hand on Jack's shoulder.  
  
"Alright Sandy, I trust you." Jack said with a smile.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A very hungry Lock, Shock, and Barrel sat around in a circle. The corn covered them from the view of the farming family, who at the moment, were off milking the cows and feeding the chickens.  
  
"Humph, well today isn't going very well now is it? I'm still hungry, and we're in the middle of no where!" Barrel said, rolling his eyes.  
  
It was true too, the three had gotten nowhere in the past four hours, and they were all very hungry. However despite their hunger they managed to make small talk.  
  
"Hey you guys...I was thinking," Shock said in a rather serious voice, "How is it that we are able to break out into song and know all the words? And where does that music come from?"  
  
"You know, I have never thought of that before!" Said Lock mater-of-factly.  
  
  
  
"Yeah, Weird..." Barrel added.  
  
The three sat so deep in bewilderment of their own thoughts, they failed to see the forth person standing in the small clearing with them. She stood studying them, trying to decide what to make of the three odd strangers. Suddenly, Shock caught sight of the girl, and jumped to her feet.  
  
"You guys! It's the girl!" Shock said, forcing Locks head to turn with her hands. Barrel luckily turned his head on his own.  
  
"Who is yo' guys, an' whut yo' doin' heah?" The girl asked, walking slowly toward them.  
  
The trio didn't even try to hold back their laughter.  
  
"HEHEHEHE!! Lock! Did you hear the way she talks!?" Shock giggled profusely, dropping to the ground holding her sides.  
  
"What kind of accent is that?!" Lock sniggered in between giggles, and Barrel was laughing so hard he couldn't even talk.  
  
"Excuse me but this heah is how ev'ry one talks aroun' heah! Fry mah hide! So whar might yo' three be fum? An' eff'n enny one sh'd makin' fun of some one, it sh'd be me makin' fun of yer clo'es! Whut in tarnation is yo' warin'?" Said the girl, with anger clearly visible in her voice.  
  
The tone obviously wasn't threatening in the least, because the three trick or treaters laughed harder then ever.  
  
"Oh yo' haf got it a-comin' t'yo'! I'm gittin' mah Paw!" And with that she was off running toward her house.  
  
This got Barrel's attention. "Uh guys...that man looked really big..."  
  
Lock just gave him a smile and said, "Fry Mah Hide Barrel! Heck if we c'd take on some one as trimenjus as San'y Claws...ah reckon we kin take him!" He flashed a Fanged smile at his friends, who in return fell over in laughter.  
  
Just then, the girl came back with some one new. He was very tall, but skinny too. On him were blue overalls, with a plaid red shirt. His face was dirty, and he had a scraggily mullet, he gave Lock an almost toothless grin.  
  
"So, is these the kids causin' yo' trouble dear?" He asked, in the same southern drawl as his daughter.  
  
"Yessuh Paw, thet's them!" She said, with a nod.  
  
"Well then dear, I'm gonna' don't ah larn them a lesson they will nevah fo'git!" He said, advancing toward them. Lock, Shock and Barrel weren't even scared in the least.  
  
"Oh no! That mean old man is going to get us!" Lock said in the most sarcastic voice he could muster. He then flashed a smile at his friends, and flicked his tail in his own amusement of himself.  
  
"You know you guys...I always thought you were stupid, but next to this guy, you're a genius or something!" Shock said kicking some dirt at the man and his daughter.  
  
"Oh yo''re a-gonna wish yo' nevah crosted paths wif me! Yer jest kids, an' I'm a full groan man! Fry mah hide! Ah reckon ah sh'd larn yo' some manners too!" his voice was becoming more and more agitated.  
  
"Well Fry mah hide, I don't think we are in the mood to 'larn' anything at the moment...so we will just be on our way now!" Barrel said, deciding to join in the taunting. He brought his fingers up to his lips and blew creating a loud whistle. As soon as he did, the tub came running trough the corn, as if it were waiting anxiously for use.  
  
"Hey git back heah!" He shouted in anger. The man started to run after the tub, but fell sort after tripping over a hose. The trio just laughed and was on their way to finding Lock's sister.  
  
  
  
A/N: I know I know...i said I wasn't going to post a short chapter...but I did...gah I'm sorry... well Read and Review please! :) 


	7. Saving Sarah

Hey! I want to thank all of those who reviewed! Special thanks to Cake Eater for the awesome review! I agree, mullets are terrifying...EEK! @.@ Sorry for the last chapter, fanfiction was being mean and decided to put extra spaces in parts of the story I didn't put them. Grrrr, oh well. I know the last chapter for the most part was completely random. Heh ^^; I was really bored when I wrote it. I'll try to actually get somewhere in this chapter. "Slap you on the face, and enjoy the show" (weezer lyrics ^^V) ME LOVE WEEZER!!! ^_______________________^. Is any one reading this story really good at drawing? I want to know if any one wants to draw some fan art for me hehe. Email me at Fireeyes1147@yahoo.com for more info on it. If you do draw it I will put a link to the pic in my story and you will become rich and famous!!! Er...maybe not rich...and the fame will be minimal...er but come on! You know you want to do it! ^^ Hey, if you do! Ill incorporate you into my story ^^ I will love you for ever if you do^^!!!! (Sorry for switching perspective so many times in this chapter)  
  
  
  
Sarah sat up in her room with a rather large headache. The rubbed her eyes in exhaustion, that stung at the touch of her hands. She looked over at the clock to see it was already 1:00 AM. The young girl groaned to herself, as she flopped herself on her bed. Sleep had never come easy for Sarah, but lately it seemed as if it was trying to elude her completely.  
  
Feeling angry at herself for no apparent reason, Sarah grabbed her coat and was out the door. Perhaps a good walk could calm her down.  
  
The streets were calm and quiet. She was the only one out at this time of night. She was thankful of the tranquility it brought; she was definitely not in the mood to talk to anyone.  
  
In the past years Sarah kept to her self and only talked when it was needed. The death of her brother had done a lot to her. She always felt that she should never get to close to anyone, because you never know when they can slip away from you without warning...just like Lock did...  
  
Hot tears suddenly fell down her cheeks. "It's not fair! You said we would always be together!" she yelled out to the darkness "You promised..."  
  
Deciding that her little outburst was a little overdramatic for a 25 year old, she calmed herself down. Her mood swings had, well needless to say had gotten the best of her lately.  
  
Sarah sighed to herself as she walked onward into the darkness, not knowing where she was going. Frankly she didn't care; it wasn't a school night, so she could just go where her legs seemed to take her. She just needed to collect her thoughts.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Lock sat looking up at the stars. His breath could be seen in front of him when he exhaled. The cold was getting to him, with every breath he took, his mind flashed back to the night he was with his sister...the night he died.  
  
The three of them were currently traveling along an old railroad track, where they would have no more disturbances. They were no longer in the mood to be pestered by the local rednecks.  
  
The night was lit up by a full harvest moon, casting a shadow on everything it touched on one side, but illuminating the other. It gave an eerie sort of glow to the landscape. The three sat up to just look at the scenery as the passed. It reminded them so much of their home back in Halloween town, how every night there was always a hauntingly beautiful full moon.  
  
"This is the longest I have ever been away from home, it feels weird. But I'm surprised Jack hasn't come look for us yet." Shock said in a lazy voice, staring blankly into the night.  
  
Lock didn't blame her for seeming so detached. None of them had gotten much sleep lately.  
  
"Look look! What's that?" Barrel shouted pointing to a small group of lights up ahead.  
  
"Must be another town." Lock said, looking toward the dim glow of the lights. Suddenly, something hit him. "That's where Sarah is!"  
  
"Sarah?" Barrel said at the same time a yawn escaped him mouth.  
  
"My sister you idiot!" Lock said smacking his friend.  
  
"Oh...Right her." Barrel said, yawning again.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sarah walked the city streets; the moon reflecting of her skin gave it a sort of peaceful glow. She suddenly stopped dead in her tracks where she saw where she was. Sarah looked up to see the abandoned train station. It was the local hang out of the thugs and bad guys of the aria. (A/n: Bad guys??? Hmmm...Can't think of a better word heh...^^;;)  
  
Sarah turned around hoping to get out of there as fast as she could. When she turned, there was a guy standing behind her.  
  
"Hey cutie, what are you doing out at this time of night?" He flashed an evil grin. She cringed at his yellow teeth.  
  
"I was just going." She said hurriedly, trying not to make eye contact.  
  
"Aw so soon? But you just got here." Came the voice of another guy. Sarah tried not to answer and just walk away, but a strong hand came and grabbed her arm.  
  
"Hey Girly, I wouldn't be so rude if I was you. You better respond when some one it talking to you." Said the owner of the hand that was holding tight to her arm.  
  
Sarah did the only thing she could at the moment...scream.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Did you hear that?" Barrel asked.  
  
"Yeah, it sounded like a scream!" Shock added  
  
"Do you think they screamed because Jack's coming?" Lock said in a worried tone.  
  
"I don't know...lets go find out." Shock said, jumping out of the tub. "Come on you two." Barrel and Lock obeyed and jumped out too.  
  
Running toward the old train station, they hear another scream. They were careful to stay in the shadows incase it really was Jack. Getting to the clearing they all saw what was really there.  
  
"Oh it's just a bunch of humans. Some really ugly one at that. What are they doing to that girl?" Barrel said squinting his eyes against the bright lights.  
  
"That's Sarah." Lock said in a small timid voice. "But look...I think they're hurting her! Come on, let's help her! Come on, they don't look that scary. We can take them." He flashed his friends a cynical smile.  
  
"Yes...I do believe we can!" Shock said giving her own Fanged smile back.  
  
"Come on Barrel!" Shock bellowed grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the clearing.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Face it Girly, No one can hear you scream. So why don't you just hand over any valuables your carrying. Then...I might let you go." The guy holding her was growing impatient.  
  
He suddenly heard some sounds coming from the woods.  
  
"Oi, Jim...Carol, go see who's in the woods. I think I saw some one." He said pointing to the aria of where Lock Shock and Barrel were crouching.  
  
Sarah took the slight moment of distraction of her captor to her advantage. She twisted herself around, and kneaded him in the stomach. He let go out of surprise and pain. In anger the man ran after her, grabbing her arms once again. She struggled to get away again, but at the same time was watching the edge of the woods to see who was lurking around.  
  
Lock Shock and Barrel watched as the two men approached.  
  
"Hey! It's just a bunch of kids!" The guy named Jim yelled.  
  
"Well get them out of here!" Sarah's captor yelled.  
  
"Hey you kids...get out of there! Don't worry, we wont hurt you!" Jim yelled.  
  
The trio just looked at each other. "Ok two things," Lock began. "One: We are not that stupid, I know just as well as you do you will try to kill us as soon as we get out. However it would be near imposable for a human to destroy us so easily. Two: We have names..."  
  
"Oh forgive me, I didn't ask your names...how rude of me. Why don't you give me your names? Then we will be good friends and you can come out of the woods." Sneered Jim in a very sarcastic voice.  
  
"Alright then," Lock flashes a toothy grin that caught the light of the moon, casting a glow over his face. His pale yellow eyes gazed into Jim's. The three could be quite scary if they chose to. It was just never their style to scare people. "I'm Lock!" He said as he jumped out of the woods.  
  
"Shock!" Shock said leaping out of the woods as well.  
  
"Barrel!" Barrel came rolling out last.  
  
The tree of them stood in front of Jim and Carol with their hands behind their back.  
  
"What are you three holding?" inquired Carol.  
  
"Do you think we should show them?" Shock said in a mocking tone. But before they could continue with their usual game of torment, Jim pulled out a hand gun.  
  
"Cut the crap, and show me what you have behind your backs you little brats!"  
  
Lock Shock and Barrel just looked at each other.  
  
"Fine! We'll show you! Man this guy wants to ruin every ones fun don't they?" Shocked whined. She then pulled a large club with nails sticking out from odd angles from behind her back. Lock slowly pulled an axe from behind hid back.  
  
"Did you think your little weapons could hurt us? I bet you couldn't even lift them high enough to hurt us! You there in the stupid skeleton suit...what do you have a tooth pick?" Carol laughed at his own joke.  
  
Barrel held up a lit match, smiling.  
  
"So that's all you have? That little match...what were you planning to do? Burn my whiskers off? Ha!"  
  
"Not quite..." Barrel said smiling, stepping to the right to reveal a cannon.  
  
"Oh kid you wouldn't!" Said Jim in a frantic voice.  
  
"Oh I would!" Barrel said with a wicked smile. He stepped backwards and put the match up to the wick. It made a sizzle as it caught fire and slowly moved down toward the cannon.  
  
"Let's get the hell out of here! Forget about the girl boss! These kids are insane!" Carol screamed as he scrambled to get away.  
  
Suddenly a loud BOOM Rung out in the night as the cannon fired. It hit the train station with a defining crack, as it hit a major support beam.  
  
"Well that building probably won't last long..." Shock said, cocking her head to one side.  
  
Lock suddenly looked over toward Sarah, who was making her way over to the trio to thank them for saving her.  
  
She suddenly set her eyes upon Lock, who up until now didn't have a good look of his face because of the darkness.  
  
Sarah realized the stranger looked just like her dead brother. "Ok...This is *so* not what I need right now"  
  
  
  
A/N Yay! I finally didn't give you a short chapter...lol hey I updated this pretty quick for me ^^ hope you liked it! Review please! I love getting them! 


	8. Here Comes Jack!

Hey! ^__^ I'm so glad I got some one to volunteer for fan art of my story! Nightmare1 You rock! I await your lovely drawing! *sob* no matter how hard I try...I just can't draw Lock... I have tried so many times...but it just won't work. You know what I have noticed as I have been typing my story...have you really stopped to think of Lock's voice, when he was being nice and stuff. And when he was alive... ^^; interesting stuff... oh I'm sorry for the last chapter... I just read over it, and I realized how horrible corny it was....totemo sorry!  
  
  
  
Sarah Stared blankly at the strange kids before her. The rebalance in of the boy to her brother was uncanny. He just looked back at her with the same dead stare.  
  
'I gotta get out of here' Sarah thought to herself. 'I though this was a bad enough neighborhood with just the gangs, but if there are little kids running around with canons, god I just don't know what to think...and to top it all off, This kid looks like Lock...god I must be having a mental breakdown.'  
  
Sarah turned to the trio to give her thanks. "Um...Thank you for helping me. I should be going now, uh...see you around." Sarah said, with no intention to really see them again. With that she began to walk off.  
  
"Well that was rude!" Shock began, "We just came all that way to be brushed off like dirt! Lock, go after her!" She gave Lock a nudge.  
  
"Fine!" He replied sharply. "Just don't push me so hard."  
  
"Hey Sarah! Wait up!" he called, trying to catch up, but was not doing to good of a job. Sarah abruptly turned back around.  
  
"Wait, how do you know my name kid?" She said in a puzzled voice, placing her hands on her hips.  
  
"What do you mean? How would I not know you?" He said in response with the same puzzled tone.  
  
"Look, you seem like a nice kid, and I'm thankful for you saving me, but frankly, you and your friends there are just creepy, and I just want to go home."  
  
Sarah knew what he was getting at, but Sarah knew better then to fall for stupid things like that. She figured that she would be better of playing dumb, and just go home. She couldn't think of any one who would want to play a sick joke on her such as this, but she kept her defenses up just the same. She decided just to go.  
  
"Lock, let her go, she's obviously really out of it. Plus...I'm no spring daisy my self...can we please just get some rest?" Shock said sleepily, grabbing Lock's tail as he was walking away.  
  
"Ow! Hey my tail! That hurt!" Lock yelled with a scowl. "Alright we can wait until morning to talk to her again. So come one we need to stay close." With that, they all hopped into the tub.  
  
"Wait...where is Barrel?" Shock asked, but her question was soon answered as a loud snore came from the back of the tub. Barrel was sound asleep; his head was resting on his mask.  
  
"Alright, let's go." Lock said, smacking the side of their tub, making it start to walk forward into the night.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Upon arriving at her dorm, Sarah trust herself on her bed. The calming walk she had gone out for had turned into a frightful experience. Any chance she had to get any sleep were now gone. The fact that she just could have died was now sinking in. She was just thankful it wasn't a school night.  
  
By the time Sarah got to her home, the sun was slowly coming up over the horizon. Hungry and eager to get her thoughts of the events just past, she decided to go out for breakfast. As soon as she walked out her door, she saw Lock, Shock, and Barrel sitting in the tub looking at her.  
  
"Oh come on! First I got mugged, now I have a bunch of what...13 year old stalkers? This is *so* not my week" Sarah said irritably, taking out her car keys.  
  
"Wait Sarah!" Lock pleaded. "Look, will you just let me talk to you? I have come a long way, and I don't want to just be blown off."  
  
"Fine, but I'm going against all my better judgment on this one. You two, stay in this...tub thing..." Sarah said pointing to Barrel and Shock. "You," She said pointing to Lock, "Get inside the house."  
  
"Wait a minuet! Lock isn't going anywhere without us!" Barrel said defensively.  
  
"Yeah!" Added Shock. "I think we have a right to be there as much as him!"  
  
"Ok...you guys, drop the act! I know this dude isn't really Lock!" Her eyes started to burn as hot tears were coming up. "I don't know who the hell sent you to do this to me, but it's not funny! Now get in the house and tell me who sent you!" she pointed angrily toward the door of her dorm.  
  
'Man, Sarah had really changed...but not that I haven't either...' Lock thought, glancing down at his tail. The four of them slowly walked inside.  
  
"Ok you guys can just sit on the couch there." Sarah said gesturing to the large leather sofa against the wall. Sarah sat in a chair adjacent to them. Her eyes were stuck gazing into Lock's, the boy did really look like him.  
  
"Right, now what one of you is going to tell me what's going on?" Sarah inquired. "Who set you up to do this?"  
  
"Why do you think this is a joke Sarah? It's me...Lock." Lock said in a pleading voice, but was equally annoyed at the same time.  
  
"Ok, Right...let's just pretend for a second you are Lock...He Died 15 years ago, how would you be back?" Sarah said in a semi sarcastic tone.  
  
"I have spent the last 15 years in Halloween Town--" Lock began but was cut off by Sarah.  
  
"Ok...Halloween town? Is that the best you could come up with! It's the most unoriginal name I have ever heard." Sarah said rolling her eyes.  
  
"Would you let me finish please?" Lock said irritated.  
  
"Hey, let's just cut to the chase, if you're not going to drop the charade, tell me something that only the real Lock would know." Sarah said eager find out who was behind it all.  
  
Lock looked puzzled; he wasn't sure what to say exactly. He franticly searched his brain for something that would convince his sister of his identity. He looked at Sarah who was smiling, thinking she stumped him, and he would drop the act and tell her what she wanted to know. Suddenly he thought of what to say.  
  
"One night...we were outside looking at the stars, and a shooting star went by...you made a wish too, but you said you couldn't tell me what it was...because if you did, it wouldn't come true." Lock was quite pleased with himself for thinking up such a dramatic moment in their lives.  
  
The look on Sarah's face quickly turned from annoyance, to that of pure shock.  
  
"I have never told any one about that before..." She trailed off. Her bright blue eyes almost seemed almost dull at the moment. "But I mean...you couldn't be Lock...could you?"  
  
Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door. Sarah couldn't even imagine who it was, but she slowly walked to the door. When she opened it, what she saw made her scream. Standing before her was none other than Jack Skellington. Lock Shock and barrel peeked over the top of the couch, and jumped at the sight of Jack.  
  
"Excuse me, you must be Sarah right? My name is Jack Skellington." Jack said in the most polite voice he could muster, extending his hand for a handshake. Sarah just screamed again, and ran into the living room.  
  
Jack looked over to the sofa and saw Lock Shock and Barrel peeking over and gave them a stern look. They all quickly sank down out of sight.  
  
Lock turned to his sister who was attempting to call 911. He quickly pulled the phone jack out of the wall. "Sara! Calm down...it's just Jack!" Lock said trying to calm Sarah down a bit so he could explain what was going on.  
  
  
  
Jack had let himself in and shut the door behind him. He quickly came into the living room.  
  
"I'm sorry miss; I didn't mean to frighten you." Jack apologized.  
  
"W-wait...how do you know Lock?" Sarah said in disbelief. She still was nearly paralyzed with shock over the fact that her dead brother and an enormously tall skeleton was in her room.  
  
"Well...it is a rather long story...why don't you sit and I'll explain it all." Jack said to Sarah, who in return slowly sat on the couch with Lock, Shock, and Barrel. Her eyes were wide, and she refused to take them off the skeleton before her. Quickly she leaned over to her brother "Hey Lock...are you sure he won't eat my brains or something?" Lock just laughed, and shook his head no. "Ok..." Sarah said, still not taking her eyes off Jack.  
  
"Right," Jack said clearing his throat. "Like I said this is a long story so just sit tight..." with that Jack began telling Sarah about Lock.  
  
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*  
  
"Well...that's about it." Jack said looking at Sarah, who seemed to have relaxed slightly.  
  
"I swear to god I'm going to be in a nut house before I finish collage... I have a skeleton and my dead brother in my living room. And they are telling me that Santa is behind all this...I just really need some water...will you excuse me?" Sarah said getting up and going into the kitchen.  
  
Jack looked over to Lock, Shock and Barrel. He crossed his arms and gave them a stern look that lasted a few seconds until he finally spoke. "Do you know what you three have put me through? The Halloween celebration is less then a month away! That is stressful enough without you guys running amuck in the mortal world, and having me what kind of havoc you could be spreading!"  
  
"What's a matter Jack...don't you trust us?" Barrel said in a sarcastic voice flashing a wicked grin at Jack.  
  
"No I don't, and it's exactly that kind of attitude that makes me feel that way!" Jack Shouted. "That is why I have come to take you three back home. I can not have you here by your selves! Now I know I told Sandy Claws I would stay out of this, but it would be irresponsible of me to just let you be here unsupervised! Besides, this human is practically having a mental breakdown!" Jack said pointing to Sarah, who was just slowly coming out if the kitchen. But upon seeing Jack point to her, she made a sort of squeaking sound and went back into the other room.  
  
The faces on Lock Shock and Barrel quickly jumped from smug to horrified. They all started to speak at the same time very fast.  
  
"But Jack! We just got here!"  
  
"You can't do this!"  
  
"You're such a big meany!"  
  
"Don't make us go Jack!"  
  
"You just think you're so big now that Oogie Boogie's gone!"  
  
"Hey settle down! Listen to me!" Jack Tried to calm them down a bit, but their ranting continued.  
  
"I'm not going back!"  
  
"Come oooooon!"  
  
Seeing no other alternative, Jack breathed deep. He suddenly let out a loud terrifying scream so loud the windows rattled. That got them to stop.  
  
From the kitchen, a sound of a glass being dropped could be heard. Terrified, Sarah looked out into the living room where Jack stood. Mustering up as much courage as she could, she approached him.  
  
"Ok...well I think that you should let Lock stay...er that is, I think I can keep an eye on him...he is my brother after all..." She spoke in a timid voice.  
  
Jack sighed, "Alright...but under one condition! These two," Pointing to Shock and Barrel, "have to go back home."  
  
Shock and Barrel looked angry with Jack. "Come on Jack!" Barrel Started, but though better of arguing with him again.  
  
"But I want my friends to stay!" Lock whined, putting a fake sad face on.  
  
"There are no exceptions, I just *can't* let all three of you stay unsupervised. That terrible Oogie Boogie has poisoned your minds! So I can't be too careful about where you can be alone." Jack explained.  
  
The trio just looked at each other. The thought of separating was one of the most painful things for them to do. They always seemed to be fighting as if the couldn't stand each other, but really they had a close bond that was imposable to break with petty fights.  
  
"Hey wait a minute! What makes you think you could keep us from just sneaking off again?" Shock asked in her shrill high-pitched snotty voice. She was getting rather irritated with Jack.  
  
"Well Shock, You two will stay with Sally until further notice." Jack said with a smile.  
  
"Oh come on Jack! Not Sally! She's so..." Barrel trailed off, shuddering.  
  
Sarah looks confused, she leaned over to Lock. "Hey Lock...Who's Sally? Is she really terrifying or something? Your friend really seems like he doesn't want to be near her."  
  
Lock just laughed, "No...She just so nice...she practically smothers you! Plus..." Lock added, "She is Jack's *girl friend*"  
  
Sarah found it the thought of a skeleton dating extremely comical.  
  
"Ok, lets just rap things up here... I still have a lot to prepare for the Halloween celebration." Jack said sternly.  
  
"Fine..." Shock said angrily.  
  
"Alright, let's go then." Jack said leading Barrel and shock out the door. They slowly turned around to wave good bye to their friend Lock. They knew they would see him again soon, but it was still hard.  
  
  
  
A/N: Yes! My longest chapter ever! Although it still doesn't seem long ;-) MAKE SURE TO REVIEW!! HEHEHEH I ONLY GOT ONE FOR MY LAST CHAPTER...MADE ME SAD...Er sorry about that little outburst ^^; well...hope to get a review! I'll update soon ^o^ 


	9. Talking things over

Yes I know! I'm a loser for leaving off at a weird place in the last chapter X__X. ahem any way, after I'm finished with this story, I'm thinking of doing a follow up. It's going to be about when Lock first got to Halloween Town, :-) On I *really* need feed back on this...um I was thinking I could either rap this story up in a couple more chapters, or keep going with the story and do something like Lock bringing Sarah to Halloween Town. So please tell me what you think.  
Sarah was still shaken up from the whole ordeal. Lock looked just as pale as the night he died, and the whole thing kept flashing in her mind. She sighed to herself, and decided it was time to get some answers from her brother.  
  
She had him sit down on the couch again in the living room, letting him watch TV while she was in the other room collecting her thoughts. Lock sat in bewilderment at the strange contraption, changing the channel every once and a while.  
  
Sarah decided it was time to talk to her brother. She couldn't just stay in the bathroom for the rest of her life, although that's just what she felt like doing. Facing him now would be too hard, but she decided she would just have to do it.  
  
"Hey Lock," Sarah said in a timid voice. 'Wait...why am I acting so shy around him? It's just my brother...' she thought to herself.  
  
"Oh hey Sarah..." Lock said, his eyes glued to the TV.  
  
Sarah laughed at her brother, "You know, watching too much TV can rot your brain." She said walking over to the TV to turn it off.  
  
"I don't think you have to worry about that. I've been dead for 15 years, I think that's happened by now." Lock said flashing a toothy grin at his sister. His fangs made Sarah's eyes grow wide.  
  
"Er...L-Lock? Why are your teeth um...all sharp?" Sarah asked, stuttering as she stared at her brother.  
  
"Oh, you know, I'm really not sure...I can't remember anything from when I first came to Halloween Town, they were like this as long as I can remember." Lock said, getting up from the couch. "Hey Sarah...I'm really hungry, do you have anything good to eat?"  
  
"Huh? Oh! Yeah...Right over there..." Sarah said, who was still looking over her brother, but not really paying attention to what he was saying. "Go help your self." She said as she gestured to the kitchen.  
  
Grateful to finally get some food, Lock ran to the fridge. He was soon disappointed at the contents of the fridge however. 'Oh yeah...I forgot, human food...' he thought to himself. 'Oh well...maybe I can find something half decent.'  
  
After rummaging through the various draws and shelves he managed to fine some rather old smelly cheese. "I guess this could do..." He said aloud to no one. He quickly ate his meal, (that was a little too fresh tasting for his liking) and went into the living room to talk to Sarah.  
  
"So, you apparently came so far to find me," Sarah began, "What exactly did you come for?"  
  
"Well, back home, I was having weird dreams about us...and I had this driving need to find you...I really can't explain why." Lock said as a puzzled look crossed his face as if he was looking for an explanation.  
  
"Oh." Sarah said simply. "So...what have you been doing these past 15 years? What is it like in this 'Halloween Town' place?" the question had been prodding the back of her mind ever since the topic of the place came up.  
  
Lock grinned at the question, making Sarah cringe at his teeth again. To Lock, Halloween Town was by far the best place for anyone to live.  
  
"There is so much to tell you about...I don't know where to start! Let's see... well, Halloween Town is one of the most wonderful places ever! The shades of gray are so wide spread, unlike here where the colors are so vibrant..." Lock continued to ramble on about how wonderful Halloween Town was, but Sarah was soon lost in thought again.  
  
'Man, he has really changed...' She though, rubbing the back of her neck.  
  
"So," Sarah said abruptly changing the subject, "What have you been doing these past 15 years?"  
  
A look that resembled both shame, and pride crossed Lock's face as soon as the question escaped her mouth. Sarah noticed it right away.  
  
"What's wrong? Was that not a good question to ask?" Sarah inquired.  
  
"No...It's just that I haven't exactly been very...nice." Lock said simply.  
  
Sarah just looked at him, "What do you mean Lock?"  
  
"Well, let me just say this first: I have done a lot of things you would consider bad, heartless even. But I have to tell you, I have no shame in doing them. It's just been my way for so long. So I ask you, please just don't get angry or lecture me about all the stuff I have done wrong. I get enough of that from Jack." Lock said rolling his eyes.  
  
'Oh my god,' Sarah thought to herself...'what has he gotten into?' "Alright, I won't say anything, but I can't promise I won't get mad."  
  
"Ok, fare enough," Lock began, taking a deep breath. "Well, like I said, I don't remember much of when I fist died, but I do remember Oogie Boogie always being my master. Me, Shock, and Barrel were his henchmen. He usually has little jobs for us to do here and there. On our off time we would play pranks on people in out town like just the other day, we put Giant scorpions inside the Mayor's bedroom while he was sleeping. He was so mad when he woke up!" Lock said giggling. "Any way, one of the more 'bigger' things I have done was actually really exciting! You probably remember that just a while ago how Sandy Claws went missing right?"  
  
Sarah thought for a moment, "Yes I remember that, I got some weird mummy hand...made me scream a lot..." She said with a shudder.  
  
"Yeah well, Jack got this whole crazy idea of taking over Christmas. So guess who he wanted to kidnap Sandy Claws for him?" Lock said with a wicked grin.  
  
Sara's eyes widened and she spoke, "Oh my god Lock...you did that?"  
  
"Yeah, along with Shock and Barrel though. So we decided to feed him to Oogie Boogie and--"  
  
"Wait! You were going to *feed* Santa to this...Boogie thing?" Sarah said still wide-eyed.  
  
"Well...yeah, but like I said, that is just the kind of person I am now, and I can't change it. So don't be mad..."  
  
Sarah just sighed. "Ok, but I think we should change the subject, or I might not be able to stay calm."  
  
"Alright then." Lock said, "Er...what do you want to talk about then?"  
  
"Well...I don't mean to be rude in saying this but...Why are you dressed like a devil?"  
  
"Well, I'm not sure really how it came about but the tail is real, and my hair has always just been spiked like this. It just never had bothered me before so I never tried to fix it. Oh well I guess its just my look, if I didn't look like I do I wouldn't really fit in too well in Halloween Town." He gave a laugh to try to keep Sarah's spirits up, she looked like she was having a hard time excepting all of this.  
  
Sarah just gave a simple "Oh" and sighed. This really was a lot for her to handle. But she decided to make the best of it, she got to be with her brother and all. She decided to attempt to make less depressing conversation.  
  
"So Lock, what do you think I would look like if I was to be in Halloween town?" Sarah asked laughing at her own question.  
  
Lock smiled looking his sister over, pondering her question. "You know I don't really know! I'm not sure how it works out, because most people are actually born and raised in the town. I just was 'luck' enough to be alive before I went. It's just that I can't remember much of when I arrived there like I said before. Oh well, so Sarah, how has your life been?"  
  
"It's been ok I guess, there isn't much to tell. After you died I let the social serves finally take me in. after that I was adopted by a rather poor family in New Hampshire I stayed a loner for a good part of my life, and then I got into this school and was reunited with my dead brother. So like I said not much has happened for me. You seemed to have lead a more interesting life, er, death than me." Sarah said, and then added, "By the way, love the pointed shoes." And gave lock a wink.  
  
"Hey! I see nothing wrong with them!" Lock said taking offence to what Sarah said, but she just laughed.  
  
"I'm sorry Lock, but they are just so cute!" Sarah laughed.  
  
"Hey, I'm not cute! I'm positively scary and can strike fear into the heart of anyone I pass! I just choose not to, it's just not my way." Lock said defensively, folding his arms across his chest.  
  
"Oh but I think you're cute!" Sarah said, but Lock gave her a look of pure venom. "Woah sorry lock, I didn't know you really took pride in that. Don't worry, to tell you the truth you really kind of freak me out."  
  
"Ha, its ok, as long as you know that I'm not *cute*" Lock said grinning. "If my friends were here they would never let me live this down!"  
"So what's the deal with your friends? Were they alive once too?" Sarah asked.  
  
Lock just shook his head, "I don't know, its something we never really talked about. But I don't think I should bring it up just yet. Well not that they're here anyway, so I cant ask."  
  
Sarah wondered if that was not a good question to ask. But Lock didn't act as if it were so she felt she was ok.  
  
"So Lock, when do you have to go back home?"  
  
Lock shrugged. "I'm not sure, when ever Jack comes back I guess. But what should I do until then?"  
  
"Well...I was wondering, do you think I could see Halloween town? I mean would I be allowed to?" Sarah asked.  
  
Lock just flashed one of his mischievous grins. "Well, we're not allowed to, but that wont stop me from taking you..."  
A/N: Yep, short chapter, but I figured if I had a longer chapter with just dialogue, you would probably get bored, well review please! Oh and thanks to Aniron Sauron Greenleaf-Took for helping me with my writers block! I'll update soon! 


	10. Author’s Note

Ok fanfiction decided to be evil and mess with all the spacing, I have tried to fix it like 400 times but it wont do anything -____- sorry, but more chapters will be coming soon! And sorry to Aniron Sauron Greenleaf- Took before, I didn't mean to upload that chapter, I had your name in but it was 2 stars for some reason o__O;; oh well.any way, sorry for any inconveniences. 


	11. A stupid little chapter, but still a cha...

Well, I bet you all thought I died ;-) Well I did! I'm now kicking back in Halloween town with Jack and the gang. But don't worry! I'll still keep going with my story :O) Sorry for the messedupness of the last chapter too...X__X. This chapter will mostly revolve around Jack and Friends (Sally, Barrel, and Shock) but don't worry, Lock will come in to the chapter too. Sorry if this turns out a bit short, and if it doesn't really go anywhere...I just really needed an in between chapter  
  
Jack paced in his room, pondering over the many thoughts plaguing his mind. The Halloween celebration was coming up all too soon, and he was simply not up to it. It wasn't that he was once again not into the whole spirit of the holiday, he was simply too tired.  
  
"Perhaps This celebration will do me some good. No matter how I feel, Halloween is the one think that can bring me out this funk, I know it will...but I'm still concerned about Lock. Was it wise of me to leave him in the mortal realm?" Jack asked looking up at Sally who was sitting on his bed with a concerned look on her face.  
  
"Oh Jack, You worry too much, I'm sure everything will be fine." Sally said warmly, in hopes to comfort Jack.  
  
Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door. Jack and sally looked up to see Barrel come in, followed by Shock.  
  
"Jack, we're bored! Can't we go home? We want to get ready for Halloween! It's not fair, if we don't get ready, we'll just have to be spectators again. Oogie Boogie would never let us be in it. He always had us off doing other sorts of things..." Shock trailed off.  
  
Jack gave a stern look at the two before him. "Now you know what--"  
  
Sally cut him off before he could finish. "Jack," She began, taking his hands in hers. "I don't think any harm will come of them being in the celebration, why don't you give them a part?"  
  
Jack sighed, "Alright...I suppose I can fit you in somewhere. But if you don't behave, I will take it away from you. And don't even think of going back out to find lock or I can assure you, I wont even let you *see* another Halloween for a *long* time."  
  
Shock and Barrel cringed at the thought of that.  
  
"Don't worry Jack, you can trust us!" Barrel said defensively.  
  
"Yes you can trust us!" Shock agreed.  
  
Jack just turned Sally, "Some how that didn't make me feel any better." then turned to Shock and Barrel. "Alright, so I will write you in to performance, but I will now ask you to go back to your rooms." He finished, as Barrel started to leave the room, followed by Shock, who were both grinning to each other. "Hold on a second, not your tree house rooms."  
"Argh! But you said--" Barrel began.  
  
"Oh Jack, just let them go, besides it will finally give us some time alone. Plus you need as much time as you time as you can to prepare for the celebration." Sally pleaded.  
  
Jack couldn't help but give into his beloved Sally, if she felt it was right, he figured it must be ok.  
  
"Alright, you two may go, but heed my warnings!" Jack said sternly.  
  
Shock and Barrel's faces lit up at the news. They were so eager to get out of Skellington manor, they raced out of the room without another word.  
  
"Jack why are you so hard on them? I know they can be a bit...much at times, but why must you be so cold?" Sally inquired, her eyes were lively and bright. Jack couldn't help but wonder how her out look on so many things were so positive.  
  
"Sally, I used to have trust in them, but they really betrayed me for that no good Oogie Boogie. You saw how they just sat and watched you being held captive, laughing like it was all one big joke. I heard them chanting in glee 'Pile of dust pile of dust! Skeleton Jack is a pile of dust!' when the mayor was making his rounds announcing it. Sally...I just can't trust them anymore."  
  
"Jack, why don't I let you get back to your work, I think I'm going to have a little talk with Shock and Barrel." She shyly gave Jack a kiss on the cheek and left the room.  
  
Jack brought his hand up to the spot the kiss landed and smiled. He wondered where her undying faith in people had come from. Even with all the mishaps and sorrow he had caused all the children, she still stuck with him. His thoughts just left him standing with a goofy smile, "She's one of a kind." He said, speaking to only the empty room before him.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
The walk to catch up with Shock and Barrel was short. She called their names upon seeing them, trying to get them to wait.  
  
"Shock, Barrel can I talk to you?" Sally asked.  
  
"I guess so." Replied Barrel bluntly. "But can it wait until we get back to the tree house?"  
  
Sally smiled and nodded, Shock and Barrel lead the way, as she just slowly followed.  
  
Sally had never really been inside the tree house before, only the chambers below. The inside was littered with various implements of torturer and other rather random items. She made sure to be careful when she walked to not trip over anything.  
  
Shock's head them popped up from behind some wooden boxes looking at Sarah questioningly. "So why did you come here?"  
  
"Well...I was just wondering, why Oogie Boogie? Why did you chose to side with him?" Sally asked, and then paused for a second as if she was thinking. "And there's another thing, you have been around longer then I have, and yet you're still so young looking. Why is this?"  
  
Shock shot a look at Sally, "Why wouldn't I want to side with Oogie Boogie? Being bad is just so much fun." She replied simply. "Right Barrel?" Shock said hopping over the boxes to the ground right before Sally stood. Barrel swung down a chain from the ceiling.  
  
"Besides, Oogie told us he was the real brains behind the town. And we believed him. I don't know why, but he seemed that we were the ones he wanted, and no one else." Barrel added, dropping next to Shock. "But on the matter of where we come from, I don't think that's any busyness of yours..."  
  
The fact that they were being so could to the question, made Sally's lust to know even stronger. "I just need to know one thing...Why was it you could just sit back, and watch Oogie Boogie try to kill me and Sandy Claws?"  
  
The look on Shock's face remained unchanged, but her tone seemed to change a bit, as if it became colder. "That's just the way things work around here...I Just didn't know how else to think...It was like my mind got clouded over, and it just seemed ok."  
  
'Oogie Boogie must have done that to them...but how was he able to have such power?' Sally thought, looking at Shock who was leaving the room. "Shock! Wait, why are you always so cold to me?"  
  
"Its not you sally, its just your so close to Jack, I mean even having you here is dangerous, we cant have you running back to him and telling him all about our secret plans and stuff--" But before shock could finish, Barrel clobbered her over the head with his mask.  
  
"Shock! She isn't even supposed to know we have secret plans!" Barrel shouted, hitting her hat off.  
  
"Oh why you little--" Shock began as she pounced on Barrel, "You know I don't like my hat taken off ever!"  
  
Sally watched the two fight somewhat in awe. 'How do things so petty set them off like that?' she thought to herself.  
  
"Ahem...Um guys?" Sally Said quietly, in attempts to calm the two. They continued to fight despite the efforts of Sally.  
  
Sally took the hint and decided to go, her presence had not been welcome even before she arrived, so she didn't want to push it. She slowly walked over to the birdcage elevator but heard voices upon reaching the hall.  
  
"Sarah, we have to be quiet! If Jack finds out I brought you here, he would kill me." Lock said, as they entered the elevator. It slowly ascended up to the main hall, making a rather unpleasant grinding sound.  
  
Lock was facing away from Sally when the cage reached the top, but Sarah caught sight of her. She jumped upon seeing the living rag doll. But she couldn't help but think, there was something unnervingly pleasant about her. Lock caught Sarah's gaze and turned around, to face a frowning Sally.  
  
"Lock! How could you bring her here! What were you thinking?" Sally said in slight anger. "You can't just bring a Human girl into this place! Oh no...What will Jack say?"  
  
"Wait! Sally don't Tell Jack!" Lock pleaded running over Sally.  
  
Sally could see the desperation in his eyes. "Oh Lock, I know how it feels to not be able to be with a loved one...But I don't know if I can go against Jack's trust like this...I'm sorry Lock." With that, Sally Got in the elevator, and road out of sight  
  
A/N: Ick, sorry for the crappy chapter...so very very sorry. Ill try to make up for it in the next one. Please forgive me again for this chapter...My Muse decided to go on vacation *dies* 


	12. The end of a story

A/n: Yay! I'm back! Ugh I'm getting lazy about updating ^^; sorry about that. Well here it is!! The last chapter hehe. I just want to thank all who have stuck with me in this fic. You all rock! *gives big hugs* well here I go!! WEE!!  
  
Lock sat in disbelief of what had just happened. Sarah had only been in Halloween town for less then an hour and their cover was already blown.  
  
"Lock, want us to go get Sally before she can tell Jack? We can put her in a great big sack! And then--" Shock began, but Sarah cut her off.  
  
"You don't have to do that for me, I guess I'll just have to face whatever happens. I just don't want to cause any more trouble then I already have." Sarah sighed, not telling the truth at all. She in fact was scared to death of this place, and although Jack seemed nice before, Sarah had no way of knowing what a skeleton was really like.  
  
"Well, I for one don't want to face Jack right now." Lock said rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "I think he's gonna be really mad this time..."  
  
The four sat in silence for a few moments, not sure of what to do next. Suddenly, a thought popped into Barrels head.  
  
"I think I have an idea!!" He announced.  
  
"Well that would be a first." Shock said grinning at her own comeback.  
  
"Shut up! I have plenty of good ideas!" Barrel protested, giving Shock a look of pure venom. "I'm sick of you calling me dumb...you...you big dummy!!"  
  
Shock couldn't help but giggle madly. "Now how long did it take you to think of that one?"  
  
Barrel was just about to lunge at Shock when Sarah's voice broke in. "Could you just tell me what your idea is Barrel? It really drives me nuts when you guys fight."  
  
"Its Shocks fault!" Barrel began, but stopped when he realized Sarah looked like she were about to smack him.  
  
"I'm in no mood..." Was all Sarah could bring herself to say. "So.What was your idea?"  
  
"All I have to say is this. If you want to take the coward's way out, jut run back home to the mortal world. But...if want to stay...for good, then go see the witches." Barrel told Sarah.  
  
Shock's eyes widened hearing what Barrel told Sarah, as a wicked grin flashed across her face. She knew what he was getting at. (A/n: I know it's not like me to interrupt a story like this but you will learn more about how they know Lock should turn to the witches for help in my next fic...Once again sorry ^^;)  
  
"What do you mean?" Lock asked confused, eyeing his friends wearily. But in return, got no response.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At first Sarah didn't know what to do. She wanted more then anything to be with her brother, but would that mean she would have to give up her old life back home? Sarah tried to turn to Lock for help, but both of them seemed to be lost for words. They did both manage to decide that they wouldn't be safe from Jack in the tree house.  
  
But after a while of fighting with her own mind, Sarah finally decided what she wanted to do. After a while of walking, Lock and Sarah found themselves in front of the witches' home. Although Sarah had no idea what she was getting herself into. Her legs felt like jello they were shaking so much.  
  
Timidly, Sarah used the door knocker to knock. (Lock was too short to reach it.) The door suddenly creaked open as if by magic. Although, considering this was a witch's house, Sarah figured it probably was magic.  
  
Inside she found two crooked looking women, one as thin as a stick, the other very short and plump. Both had large warts covering their faces, and looked ancient. Sarah was surprised by this. After seeing Shock, she thought that all witches looked like that.  
  
"Oh look Sister! We have company! Come in! Come in! Make sure to lock the door behind you." Said the taller skinny witch, grinning an almost toothless grin at Sarah and Lock.  
  
"Why it's Lock! Now is this your sister?" Asked the second smaller plumper witch. "You two have been causing quite an uproar with Jack you know."  
  
Sarah bit her bottom lip, not only was she scared half to death, but now she had Jack mad at her.  
  
"Now Sarah, why is it that you have come here to our humble home?" Asked the taller witch in a soothing, yet rather untrusting voice.  
  
"I want to be able to stay here with Lock, for good...Barrel told me to turn to you to make that possible." Sarah said, her voice slightly trembling.  
  
The plump witch jumped down from the chair she was standing on to face Sarah, but was too short and only came up to about her knees. "Yes, but are you willing to give up your old life? Because once you stay you can't ever go back to your old life. Death would be your new beginning..."  
  
Sarah looked over to her brother in hopes of reassurance, but just shrugged, not knowing what to tell her. He too was a bit confused by the whole situation.  
  
It seems that all of her senses were pushing her to do it, like some invisible hand working her mouth, forming words. "I'll do what ever it takes."  
  
The taller witch grinned at Sarah; her one tooth was sticking out in a grotesque way. "Alright, this might take a while to prepare, why don't you take a seat while were getting ready." Lock and Sarah looked around the musty old home and spotted two large red chairs by a fire place. Lock, being dead, didn't pay any head to the warmth given off by the fire. But Sarah sat close, letting it warm her toes.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Back at Skellington Manor, Jack had just heard the news from Sally and was in a state of panic. "Sally. I can't deal with this now! Halloween is just around the corner! I can't believe Lock would go behind my back like this after I specifically told him not to!"  
  
Sally went to comfort Jack, when a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks. "Now why does this sound familiar to me?"  
  
Jack and Sally both spun around to see Sandy Claws standing before them. "Jack, I thought I told you to stay out of this! It wasn't your concern. Now because you had to meddle in something that didn't involve you, an innocent girl is throwing her life away as we speak!"  
  
"I'm sorry Sandy, but I thought I should just--" Jack began but was cut off by Santa.  
  
"No Jack, don't bother giving me any of your apologies. We need to hurry...I fear it's already too late to save her." Santa said as he tried to grab Jack's hand to pull him toward the door, but only managed to grasp one of his long bony fingers. Realizing his mistake, he quickly let go and just said, "Come on Jack."  
  
Santa and Jack lead the way through town closely followed by Sally. Many of the town's citizens would point at the passing Sandy Claws, and would talk together in hushed whispers not knowing what was going on.  
  
"Sandy, perhaps I should lead the way, after all, I do know this town like the back of my hand." Jack said, trying to walk in short strides to stay slow enough for Sandy.  
  
"Nonsense, I'm Santa Claws! I can find anything." He said, as he turned down a street leading away from where Lock and Sarah were.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Sarah sat staring at her feet; she couldn't bring herself to look at anyone. She felt like she was degrading who she was, she was taking the cowardly way out. She was doing the very thing she told herself not to do all these years.  
  
Suddenly the crackly voice of one of the witches broke her thoughts. "It's ready. All I need is a lock of your hair. Then you'll be ready to go" Then without warning she came over and cut of some of her hair with some rusty scissors.  
  
Surprised by the sudden action, Sarah jumped a little hitting her head on the mantel of the fire place, shouting some words that should never be repeated...ever. Lock just looked at her almost approvingly. Sarah just rubbed the top of her head, wondering if Halloween town had aspirin.  
  
About a few minutes later, the witches announced that the potion was done. Sarah looked at her brother fishing for some sort of reassurance, but only found a week smile. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Sarah nodded weekly, She had thought about it all the while she was sitting waiting for the witched to done preparing. She knew she was constantly unhappy before Lock came along, and suicide had crossed her mind many times. She wondered if this was anything like suicide...  
  
The short plump walked over to her and took Sarah's hand in her own. "It's ready dear." She said leading her over to the cauldron, where the other witch was standing holding a cup full of a fowl smelling orange liquid.  
  
"Am I supposed to drink that?" Sarah asked, peering down into the container cautiously.  
  
"Well how else do you expect to get it into your system?"  
  
"Go on, Drink it then!" Said the other witch hurriedly. "We don't have much time!"  
  
"Much time before what?" Sarah prodded confusedly, when suddenly there was a pounding at the door. But before Sarah could get any response, the cup was trust up to her mouth. The liquid burned her through as it went down. Suddenly she felt the room spinning around her, and everything went black.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"Oh this is a fine mess of things!" Santa shouted, pounding at the door. Suddenly he saw the chimney on the top of the roof. "Oh *now* I see that...of all the things that could go wrong..." He trailed off and put his finger up to his nose and shot up to the roof and into the house leaving Jack and Sally Standing outside the door still.  
  
After a few seconds, the door was opened by a very furious Santa. His cheeks were more red the usual. "Were too late!" He fumed. Jack peeked in to survey the scene. The tow witched were franticly trying to push Santa out (Although were doing a bad job of it) as Lock looked at Jack with an expression of slight fear, but he covered it with one of his slick 'what? I didn't do anything' looks. His eyes then moved to the body lying lifeless on the floor. From behind him, Sally gasped.  
  
"Oh the poor girl! Lock what happed to her?" Sally said, stepping into the small home advancing toward Sarah who was laying limp on the floor.  
  
"What's happened here? What did you do to her?" Jack demanded furiously, striding to the two witches who were suddenly not as stable as they seemed before. Jack had hardly taken a step toward them before they flinched and let out a shrill cry.  
  
"J-Jack, We didn't know you were coming..." The taller witch stammered, obviously intimidated by Jack's size.  
  
"I'm very disappointed in you two. How could you do something like this? Now that Oogie Boogie is gone, I see no reason you have to start this!" Jack roared at the two witches who seemed about ready to faint.  
  
"Jack, you have to believe us! It was in the best interest of the girl. She wanted us to do it." Spat the plum witch in a pathetic attempt to redeem herself, as Jack just looked at her questioningly.  
  
Suddenly Sally's small voice piped up. "Umm could you guys please *stop* fighting for a second...I don't think it's a very good idea keeping Sarah on the floor like this...don't you think we should move her?"  
  
"Oh this isn't like me at all! I've gotten my self all in a flutter because of those two." Santa said pointing one of his short plump fingers at the sisters. "Now don't you all just stand there, let's help this girl."  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
It seemed like some one was calling Sarah's voice. It almost seemed that as the voice grew louder, it chased the darkness away. Suddenly she felt as if she were suddenly thrust forward. Slowly she opened her eyes. The first thing her gaze met with was Jack, his hollow eye sockets meeting with her own eyes. Sarah couldn't stop the yelp that then escaped her mouth. Jack stumbled back, his long legs tangling in a stool next to the bed she was laying in.  
  
Sarah searched for words, but she couldn't speak. Her throat was dry yet felt like it was on fire.  
  
"Oh she's awake!" Sally cooed as she entered the room. "How are you feeling Sarah?"  
  
"I don't know...I feel strange." Sarah said, finally finding her voice. She slowly sat up in her bed to get a better look at where she was. The room had a definite gothic look to it. There were large gargoyles along the walls. A large angular fire place was behind her, and the bed was rather high off the ground.  
  
"Where am I?" Inquired Sarah. Her question soon answered by her brother.  
  
"Jack's house, more commonly known as Skellington manor." Lock said, climbing up the side of the bed, so he could at least be at eye level with his sister.  
  
"We were starting to get worried. None of us were sure if you would pull through. That concoction the witches gave you was highly unstable for a mortal to take. It doesn't always work." Sally said, taking Sarah's hand in her own. Sarah's eyes widened as she saw her hand was just as pale as Sally's. Yet strangely, she wasn't frightened, nor did she want to look away in disgust. The fact she no longer had a heartbeat or no longer had the desire to breath was a bit strange, but for some reason, it felt like this was the way she was always meant to be.  
  
Suddenly the bedroom door slowly creaked open as Shock and Barrel slowly walked inside.  
  
"How's the girl doing?" Barrel asked, standing on his toes attempting to peer at Sarah wanting to know what condition she was in.  
  
"She has a name stupid!" Shock corrected...In a not so nice way.  
  
Barrel just rolled his eyes in return "Ok. Is *Sarah* ok?"  
  
"I'm fine...I just feel strange." Sarah whispered, her voice seemed to be evading her again. Slowly she moved the covers of the bed off of her in an attempt to stand up. Her legs seemed a bit wobbly, but she managed the task.  
  
"I better go tell Sandy Claws she's awake." Jack began, as he walked toward the door, but was stopped short by Sally.  
  
"Oh dear, he must not have told you. He left...there was an emergency back in Christmas town." Sally told Jack, as Sarah listened intently. "Oh Jack! I almost forgot! We need to get Sarah some cloths." Sally looked over Sarah, as if to size her up. "We look just about the same size. Jack will you help me move that old chest of my old clothing from the attic? I think they should fit her."  
  
"Splendid idea Sally!" Jack said opening the bedroom door. "After you my love."  
  
After Jack and Sally had shut the door, Lock, Shock and Barrel all scrunched up their faces.  
  
"EWWW I *hate* mushy stuff!" Barrel said, adding a fake gag.  
  
"Bleh, kissy kissy stuff makes me wanna barf!" Shock added.  
  
"Yeah! It totally disgusting!" Lock agreed. "Hey wait a minuet! I just thought of something...With Sarah we don't have to be a trio anymore...we can be a quartet!"  
  
Shock's eyes lit up upon hearing Lock. "You're right! She can help us with all the things we couldn't do before. Because come on let's face it, were not the tallest people around." Suddenly footsteps were heard heading to the door. "Ok, shut up about that, Jacks coming back!" But the person who entered the room wasn't Jack.  
  
"Jack...Oh Jack! Are you in here my boy? Halloween draws nee--" the mayor cut himself short as soon as he saw who was standing in the room. "Oh no...There are four of them now?!"  
  
They all couldn't help but all burst out in cynical giggles... Even Sarah joined in the same time as every one else, with almost the same tone as their high obnoxious laughter, and for once in her life Sarah knew she was happy again, and nothing could ever taker that away from her.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
A/N: e.e Longest Chapter ever! Sorry about that. Well how do you like the ending...Was it good bad? Well All I can say is that I had so much fun writing this story and I hope you all liked it too! Don't worry, more stories are to come! Thank you all for being so great! See you all around. 


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